A Small Part of the Big Picture
by virgothemuse
Summary: Just a look at how Cronus and Kankri meet and milestones in their relationship. Shameless fluff and sexy shenanigans are bound to occur. Most likely will have smut in later chapters but don't count on it.


"I can't bereef you dragged me here" Meenah growls

"Hey doll, I didn't drag you anywhere. Plus, I'm not efin callin' this a date or anyfin" you add the fish puns to get on her good side.

She almost smiles.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go get Aranea" she grumbles

You were being honest when you said this wasn't a date by your standards. Originally you had invited Meenah with the intention, but she refused going unless she could bring Aranea.

Honestly you're glad she even came, but it probably had to do with your amazing venue choosing skills.

An ocean view club to be exact.

Aranea agreed and suggested having some others tag along, so Horuss and Rufio were then added to the list.

But even with all these people, you stand alone at the bar, downing drinks by yourself.

You hate drinking alone.

You hate being alone.

But you're alone all the time.

Suddenly you're upset, and angry, and you need to get out of the stupid club you tried to impress Meenah with.

You slam your glass down on the bar counter and stalk out of the club.

You realize you can't go home. Meenah drove.

You could call a taxi, sure, but then you're stuck sitting in your messy, tiny apartment by yourself and you haven't made any progress.

So you walk.

You walk down the street past little shops, a bookstore or two, and hesitate in front of a coffee shop.

You go in and the smell of chocolate and coffee beans hit you. It's amazing.

The place is obviously family owned, small and cozy like a lot of the places in the area.

You order something strong with a good dose of caramel to satisfy your sweet tooth and take it to the back corner booth, looking around at all the signs and newspaper clipping adorning the maroon painted walls.

"Would you mind if I sat here?"

You look over from a framed poster of a teenage girl drinking something steaming outside in the snow and see a guy about your age, perhaps a bit younger wearing a gigantic red sweater and holding a drink of his own.

"Uh yeah" you say in surprise

He sits across from you and sips his chocolaty smelling beverage.

"I was a bit lonely sitting over there by myself and saw you sitting here looking a bit alone yourself. Not that I'm presuming anything" he adds quickly

You blink.

"Actually I was" you say

"I see. I'm Kankri Vantas" he replies, offering a hand

"Cronus"

You shake.

You're both comfortably silent for a moment as you drink.

"So why are you alone chief?" You ask

He seems to think over his answer for a moment, then says; "I'm usually alone. People don't enjoy my company for the most part. They believe me to be…highly opinionated to put it kindly" he says sadly "and what is story if you don't mind my asking"

He takes a drink of what you've deduced to be hot chocolate and peeks at you with his big brown eyes.

"I was with some people, but they don't really like my company either. So I left" you end the statement on an unintentionally bitter tone

Kankri pulls his sweater sleeves over his palms and frowns.

"I suppose honestly if I wanted it enough, I could call a few people my friends. But my standard of friends are people who like me for me, and not anything less. I would rater spend my time alone then with people who don't really care for me, or would say bad things about me." he says thoughtfully "I think you were wise in your decision."

You drink.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But I guess I really haven't created a great image for myself, you know?"

That's the understatement of the century.

It seems like everyone you meet automatically thinks you're a desperate, clingy, weirdo. You never get a chance.

"To be truthful, when I first saw you I believe you looked to have the ignorant, self centered sort of air about you. But then I thought of how prejudiced and triggering that thought was and told myself to look past your appearance and you looked very lonesome. I then told myself I would see what you were like. And you're neither of those things from what I can tell. Quite the opposite actually, you seem like a very nice person with honorable morals Cronus."

You're completely shocked. No one has ever said anything like that to you before. Honorable morals? Everyone he knows would scoff at the thought of it.

Kankri looks down, a bit embarrassed by your reaction.

"You know," you say "I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Kankri seems to bit stunned himself, and flushes.

"Whoever said anything bad about you chief, they're wrong" you say confidently

And you believe that with every fiber of your being right now.

His flush deepens, and he smiles a bit.

"Thank you Cronus. I believe that might have been one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to be also" Kankri says bashfully

You spend the half hour or so talking with him and getting to know him. You start to pick up little things he does, like waving around his hands when he talks about something he's especially passionate about (which seems to be a lot of things), or pulling his turtleneck up high with he's nervous, anxious, or embarrassed. He blushes when you compliment him, or when he catches your eye for too long, which you thing is fucking adorable. So when he finally says he has to go, he leaves with your phone number, and you leave with his.

As you walk out the door of the coffee shop you smile to yourself for a moment and think, maybe, that being rejected my Meenah may have just turned out good for you.


End file.
